One of the most popular shows on television, Game of Thrones, has just unveiled a lineup of wines made by California producer, Vintage Wine Estates. The line includes two red wines (a blend and a cabernet sauvignon) and one white (chardonnay). If the way fans' obsession about this series is any indication, these bottles will be flying off of the shelves, in preparation for the coming of winter.

You can find out more about the wines in this Conde Nast Traveller piece.

 

5 years ago a group of chefs, a devoted team of servers and a soon to be dad set out to build a temporary tasting room on a frozen river. 20-hour days, cuts, bruises, frostbite, headache & heartbreak we lifted off the ice for 21 nights of service January 24th 2013. We had no idea what we where getting ourselves into. None. We told ourselves that we would do it for 5 years. Really make it mean something. We put it all on the line. We owe it all to our supporters, our families, friends and devoted food lovers. Thank you, Winnipeg, for embracing us. We are back! Bookings for RAW:almond will open at 9am December 11th at the Forks Market in the center food court. Doors open at 7am. We look forward to coming back to our river and bringing together a culinary community for 21 nights!

A photo posted by Raw: Almond (@rawalmondwpg) on Dec 5, 2016 at 6:18pm PST

Winnipeg's RAW: Almond --what is now one of the most well-known and uniquely Canadian food events in the country-- recently unveiled dates, participating chefs and proposed structure design for its 5th year on the ice. For people unfamiliar with the frozen river pop-up restaurant, the collaboration sees local and visiting chefs cooking together each evening for about three weeks offering up multi-course dinners in three seatings a night. Guest chefs for 2017 include Vancouver's Ned Bell, Calgary's Jamie Harling and Toronto's Scott Vivian.

For more information on dates and how to purchase tickets to this one-of-a-kind event, head here.

What? You mean food prices aren't going down anytime soon? Not that it's surprising, but Canadians can expect to pay more for their groceries in 2017. Partially due to the still fledgling loonie, importing costs and other factors, food prices are forecasted to rise by as much as 5 per cent on average in the country. Sigh...

Read the full Globe and Mail article here.

 

This year's release of Absinthe {batch 3} is almost ready! Online shop is live for orders with the in-store release this Friday, December 9th. #absinthe

A photo posted by @dillonsdistills on Dec 7, 2016 at 9:19am PST

No one likes hearing the words "new tax", but sadly, that's what Ontario-based distillers heard when the province announced its new tax to be placed on all spirits made in Ontario. All craft distilleries are crying foul, saying this will stifle growth of the ever-advancing distillery scene. How hefty is this tax exactly? A 61.5 per cent tax on point-of-sale. Wow.

See Ontario distillery owners as well as MPs weigh in on the issue in this CBC News piece.

Here's your feel-good story for the week. The 30th annual CBC Vancouver food bank fundraiser raised a record-breaking $780,347 this season, more than $100,000 over last year. That money will go a long way at a time of year when food banks are at their busiest.

Get the full rundown from CBC Vancouver here.

Hospital cafeteria food is never really anything to write home about or really nutritious, but the new food court at Jewish General Hospital has apparently taken an especially terrible turn for the worse, offering up a long list of unhealthy foods following a renovation. Burgers, hotdogs and smoked meat sandwiches are on the menu while any sort of fresh fruit or vegetables, although technically available, are not easily visible.

See the full Montreal Gazette piece here.

Though not a uniquely Canadian news story, but with the never-ending amount of farmland our country boasts, it was pretty cool to see this announcement from John Deere, North America's premier farm equipment manufacturer, about their first completely electric-powered tractor. Typically run with diesel engines, this electric version offers a (clearly) more environmentally-friendly way to operate on the farm. Cool!

Get the full scoop in the Electrek article here.